NATIONWIDE — Today, for the first time, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon directly called on Congress to raise the minimum wage, in a response to heightened calls being brought on Walmart executives and the Walton heirs by associates and elected officials like Bernie Sanders, who was invited by Walmart associates to speak on their shareholder proposal. Kristi Branstetter,a United for Respect leader and Walmart associate of 11 years, issued the following statement:

“CEO McMillon is trying to avoid responsibility for raising wages at Walmart. Too many of us are trapped in part-time on top of being underpaid, while Target and Amazon have already publicly committed to pay $15 an hour. It’s unacceptable. The Walton heirs own about half the company and they made $14 billion in the first six weeks of this year. It’s time to reward us associates who do the work instead of the billionaire Waltons. We’re glad that together with Sen. Sanders, we got Walmart to verbally support an increase in the minimum wage. But if Walmart is serious about getting Congress to raise the minimum wage, they should endorse the Raise the Wage Act and stop funding so many politicians who oppose it.”

If you’re covering Walmart’s AGM and would like to speak to a Walmart associate, please contact Taylor Campbell at (202) 854-9571 or [email protected] or Dan Schlademan at 312-502-5280 or [email protected].

United for Respect is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization. United for Respect is not a labor union and does not exist for the purpose of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, or terms and conditions of employment.
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